The Quidditch World Championships 2001
by Yoda
Summary: The title says it all. Although main characters are actually Harry P., Ron W., Oliver W. and Viktor K., as well as more familar faces and some that aren't...*COMPLETE*


A/N: Okay, just to clear this up straight away I disclaim everything unless it's not in any of the Harry Potter books or the Quidditch through the Ages novella, in that case it's mine so paws off! [But I don't mind if anyone borrows fantastic ideas – I must have recognition though…please?]. And also it's not the world cup – it's the world _championships_, hence no countries are recognised [except as origins of teams]. Other than that – enjoy! [hopefully].

****

Quidditch World Championships: 2000

'Annnnnnnnnnnd welcome to the final of the Quidditch World Championships 2000, and what a game we have for you todaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, isn't that right Ernie?'

'Thank you Neville, and yes indeed we have a match for you today, with the Chudley Cannons facing off against the Montrose Magpies for the title of Quidditch World Champions.'

'But the biggest story is of course the face off between Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, never before have they faced off in such a big match.'

'Yes, this will be the one to settle their 50 game apiece record from the leagues, and speaking of our leagues we can't forget Oliver Wood's Puddlemere United team are facing off against the Vratsa Vultures, lead by the superstar international Seeker Viktor Krum.'

'Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees indeed Ernie, but isn't that an amazing feat in itself, that means a total of three of our league teams have made it against some of the international favourites such as Canada's Stonewall Stormers or Uganda's Patonga Proudsticks.'

'Well Neville, let's give our viewers something to see it with, coming up first is the list of all our tournament's competitors:'

TEAM

COUNTRY

Appleby Arrows

England

Ballycastle Bats

Northern Ireland

Bigonville Bombers

Luxembourg

Braga Broomfleet

Portugal

Caerphilly Catapults

Wales

Chudley Cannons

England

Falmouth Falcons

England

Fitchburg Finches

USA

Gimbi Giant–Slayers

Ethiopia

Gorodok Gargoyles

Lithuania

Grodzisk Goblins

Poland

Haileybury Hammers

Canada

Heidelburg Harriers

Germany

Holyhead Harpies

Wales

Kenmare Kestrels

Ireland

Montrose Magpies

Scotland

Moose Jaw Meteorites

Canada

Moutohora Macaws

New Zealand

Pride of Portree

Scotland (Isle of Skye)

Puddlemere United

England

Patonga Proudsticks

Uganda

Quiberon Quafflepunchers

France

Stonewall Stormers

Canada

Streetwater All–Stars

USA

Sumbawanga Sunrays

Tanzania

Tarapoto Tree–Skimmers

Peru

Tchamba Charmers

Togo

Thundelarra Thunderers

Australia

Toyohashi Tengu

Japan

Tutshill Tornados

England

Vratsa Vultures

Bulgaria

Wigtown Wanderers

England

Wimbourne Wasps

England

Woollongong Warriors

Australia

'Yeah there are some real teams there let me tell you, including some of the more surprising teams, such as Japan's Toyohashi Tengu, I never thought I'd see them in my lifetime.'

'Well Neville if you keep eating donuts like that it wouldn't be surprisi– erk!'

'Sorry folks, Ernie's nose is experiencing technical difficulties, we'll be right back!'

***

'Always the double act,' Harry muttered with a grin plastered on his face as he turned off the wall in the dressing room, already he was in his black and white robes, the magpie on his chest blending in neatly with the pattern. Behind him there was a "boooooo!" from one of his team-mates when the wall turned off.

'I was watchin' his nose Harry!' Gregor Flunswick moaned, a native of Scotland he was one of the only two Scotsmen on the team.

'Yeh were not,' Charlie McCabe argued back, 'you were jus' lookin' for a picture of yehself!' then whooping with laughter he fled in his black and white robes while Gregor tried to curse him with a Banana–Nose Jinx. Laughing heartily Harry surveyed the rest of his team-mates, the bright Ginger hair of Fred and George Weasley who had left the joke shop after getting 'itchy feet', then the trio of Sara, Susan and Serene Walcott, the three sisters who had formed one of the best Chaser formations in league history. Sighing to himself Harry turned the wall on again in time to see Ernie Macmillan's nose shrink back down to normal size while Neville Longbottom sat on his chair quaking with silent laughter.

***

'Vy is that so funny?' asked a voice over to Viktor's left, 'I vill never understand English humour.'

'Vell at least you understand their language,' he replied, 'or ve vould haff real problems.' Looking around Viktor saw all his team dressed in their black robes with the vulture head emblem emblazoned on the front. All but one of his team were Bulgarian, this suited most of them as he was their Keeper, of course when they shouted in Bulgarian at him it suited no-one. 'Remember today,' he shouted over their talking, 'no Bulgarian to Dean, ve can't afford to lose stupidly again.'

'Yah, yah,' one of the others replied, 'but vy can't you learn some Bulgarian?' he said towards Dean Thomas who sat smiling on the bench.

'Because you don't need to speak Bulgarian to play Quidditch, otherwise I wouldn't be here, although I'd rather be playing for West Ham in the FA Cup final.'

'There he is vith this Vest Ham and FA Cup,' the player to Viktor's left whispered to him, 'I can find no such cup in any Quidditch tournament, and vy does he seek to pay with pigs?'

'That Poliakoff, my friend, is vy you vere not born a Muggle.' Viktor replied with a smile, looking at the clock on the wall he read off the legend of _5 minutes to go_.

***

'Annnnnnnnnnnd we're back on the air, less one banana nose but with five minutes left up before the final and the third place play-offs.'

'You're right Neville and the atmosphere inside the stadium is just magical, but let's have a look and see how our final four teams got to where they are now, yes first we have the table for the final sixteen, and the real surprise when you look is the positions of the teams compared to where they ended up.'

'I have to agree there Ernie, except for Montrose all of the teams have not landed in their respective positions in the final table which you'll see in a minute folks. And the one I have to say looked most unlikely was of course; Chudley, well here's the table:'

Team

Wins

Losses

Draws*

Points For/Against

League Points

Montrose Magpies

32

0

1

6,000

97

Vratsa Vultures

32

0

1

5,850

97

Bigonville Bombers

30

1

2

4,000

92

Stonewall Stormers

30

3

0

3,000

90

Kenmare Kestrels

29

3

1

2,600

88

Patonga Proudsticks

27

1

5

2,450

86

Caerphilly Catapults

27

3

3

–1,350

84

Thundelarra Thunderers

25

4

4

–

79

Tarapoto Tree–Skimmers

25

6

2

4,500

77

Braga Broomfleet

24

7

2

0

74

Streetwater All–Stars

22

11

0

–5,600

66

Sumbawanga Sunrays

20

0

13

2,750

63

Puddlemere United

20

0

13

2,600

63

Heidelburg Harriers

18

6

9

1,450

63

Toyohashi Tengu

17

5

11

–2,150

62

Chudley Cannons

17

6

10

150

61

*Match length fixed at 2 days, if the Golden Snitch remains uncaptured it is a draw regardless of scores.

'You couldn't have been more right with Chudley's position there Neville, right back down in 16th they were and now in the finals – what a time it must have been.'

'Yes, especially when they put out, let's see, yes it was France's Quiberon Quafflepunchers, they both went in on 17 wins, 6 losses and 9 draws, the final score was relevant to the result as it was a draw–'

'–and what a draw–'

'Thank you Ernie, and it was Chudley's earlier victory over Tarapoto that secured them the 150 points they needed to beat Quiberon into the top 16.'

'Yes, it was undoubtedly a magnificent Snitch snatch by Seeker Cho Chang for Chudley, but she'll have her work cut out today against Harry Potter. In fact there is another game record, they both hold 25 snatches against each other, of course this doesn't include Harry's three Snitches taken against her while they both attended Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

***

'No reason it should really,' Ron said to Cho as they both watched the wall, 'after all that was before you had training and a good broom.'

'Yeah, plus there was that whole Dementor thing one year, then the big, stormy thing that threw me off a broom one time and of course the fact that I let him win the last one.'

'Ah,' Ron said melodramatically with a smile on his face, 'young love!'

'I'll give you 'young love', captain or not!' Cho replied with a smile and began chasing Ron around the dressing room.

'Watch it!' yelled Ginny Weasley who was busy juggling clubs with her fellow Beater, Parvati Patil, while the two ran underneath them. 'We don't want to be down a captain and Seeker before the game starts!'

'Leave them to us!' yelled the three Chasers; James White, Timothy Hall and Ben Dunwoody who sprang up and began to chase their Seeker and Keeper around the room until it became an orange blur that was the Chudley Cannons.

***

'I've received word Neville, the teams are almost ready, we've probably got five minutes left, and that's about enough time to look over the rest of the path to the finals.'

'Okay Ernie. Well, here you are folks the tables that show how the teams finally got to where they are, the final sixteen draws, and then the league of the final four teams:'

1st Round Matches

2nd Round Matches

Finalists

Kenmare Kestrels

Heidelburg Harriers

Kenmare Kestrels

PUDDLEMERE UNITED

Puddlemere United

Tarapoto Tree–Skimmers

Puddlemere United

Sumbawanga Sunrays

Chudley Cannons

Chudley Cannons

CHUDLEY CANNONS

Stonewall Stormers

Stonewall Stormers

Thundelarra Thunderers

Vratsa Vultures

Caerphilly Catapults

Vratsa Vultures

VRATSA VULTURES

Streetwater All–Stars

Bigonville Bombers

Streetwater All–Stars

Braga Broomfleet

Toyohashi Tengu

Toyohashi Tengu

MONTROSE MAGPIES

Montrose Magpies

Montrose Magpies

Patonga Proudsticks

Team

Wins

Losses

Draws

Points For/Against

Finals Points

Montrose Magpies

3

0

0

1,350

9

Chudley Cannons

1

1

1

900

4

Vratsa Vultures

1

2

0

750

3

Puddlemere United

0

2

1

550

1

'Oops, little bit of a clerical there Neville, this time the draw was because these matches had their lengths fixed at a day.'

'Thank you Ernie, and before you say it; what a draw that was, Ron Weasley's Cannons and Puddlemere under Oliver Wood, two of the best Keepers we've seen in the tournament?'

'Undeniably, after a shaky start I bet they're both brimming over with confidence.'

***

'Oliver! You're suppose to drown yourself in the shower afterwards – not before the match!' Dennis Creevey shouted from around his neck as the Keeper tried to throw him off.

'No, I've decided – were going to lose!' Oliver Wood shouted, now trying to remove the whole team from him as he struggled towards the showers.

'We are not!' Colin Creevey said, being dragged along the floor by Oliver's foot, 'now stop before I have to club you to death!'

'Don't say that!' Angelina Johnson said as she pulled on one of Wood's arms, 'he might change his mind about the shower and go for the bats!'

'I dunno,' replied Katie Bell as she tried to push Wood back away from the showers, 'I think his mind is made up!'

'Huuuuuuunnnnuuuuurrrrgggggghhh!' grunted Lee Jordan as he tried to push Oliver back.

'Oliver!' Alicia Spinnet reared threateningly, 'unless you stop this nonsense right now then the wedding is off!' and stop he did sending the entire team falling to the ground around him. From beneath the pile Alicia's voice rose muffled, 'this was not what I had in mind.'

Picking themselves up no-one noticed the clock until Neville's voice sounded magically throughout the changing rooms; 'Annnnnnnnnnnd here they are, all the way from Bulgaria; The Vraaaaaaaaaaaaaaatsa Vuulllllllllllllllllllllltures!'

***

The wind flew through Viktor's hair as his Firebolt 5000 sent him flying throughout the stadium to the roars of the crowd, looping around he circled his team-mates on their slower original Firebolts, seemingly flying through them to the crowd but never brushing another broomstick. Yes, this was where he belonged, in the air surrounded by people he could entertain easily by doing what came naturally to him, where he could use his skills to succeed for his team.

'Wow, look at the speed that Krum is getting out of that!' Neville's amplified voice, 'Puddlemere Seeker Lee Jordan will be hard-pressed to keep up with that, and speaking of Puddlemere United; heeeeeeeere theeeeeeeeeeeey coooooooooooooooooooome! An amazing 'old school' team which consists entirely of people who attended Hogwarts around the same time as their Captain, Oliver Wood, the only exception being Dennis Creevey who came to Hogwarts the year after Wood left.'

In the stadium Puddlemere shot out on their broomsticks, like the Vultures only the Seeker was without a Firebolt, Jordan had a Firebolt 1500, still pulling the same loops and twists as Krum he dazzled the crowd with pinpoint accuracy. However the rest focused on Wood who had gone straight to the goal and was hanging upside down from his broomstick, gazing at the floor as if to size up an enemy…or was it a landing site?

***

'Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel Neville it looks like you have quite a crowd there, but I don't think it can quite beat the one in here, not after the extra tier anyway, but HERE COME THE TEAMS!' Ernie's voice was magically sounded over the stadium as the black and white Magpies and blazing orange Cannons emerged onto the pitch far below the commentary box.

'Whoa,' Harry mumbled, despite playing Quidditch for two years now he had never seen such a huge stadium, even the world cup stadium was, well small compared to it, 'too bad Viktor isn't here for this one.'

'Well we are,' answered a voice and Harry turned to see Ron beside him, 'ready to fly?' he asked with a warm smile.

'Let's give them a real show Captain Weasley,' Harry said putting out a hand.

'My honour Captain Potter,' Ron replied grasping and shaking the hand firmly, as he did so the crowd erupted in cheers for the two.

'Time for business then, I'll see you after for the celebrations, I've had the house done up nicely.'

'Who says we're going to your house?' Ron asked with a quizzical look at Harry.

'Well, even The Burrow is small for this kind of party.'

'Well yeah, but I've got Minerva McGonagall to open Hogwarts for us.'

'Um…you win,' Harry said in a small voice, even though he was shouting over the cheers. Then they were interrupted by the referee landing in front of them.

'To you positions please ladies and gentlemen,' Jane Hooch said, 'I'll start you off on the third whistle, and mum sends her regards you two.' The last part was added to Ron and Harry with a wink before she took off on her Firebolt 4000, then as one giant creature the Cannons and the Magpies took off, interweaving until all were in positions high above the field. Sitting on his Firebolt 5000 Harry scanned the other side until he found Cho, also on a 5000 she gave him a hearty smile before returning to watch the box far below where Jane held the whistle to her lips. Blowing three sharp blasts she kicked the box open and the Golden Snitch, Quaffle and Bludgers shot high into the air, within seconds the Snitch disappeared and the Quaffle was heading towards a goal, the game had begun.

***

With a quick flip of his broom Dean stuck out a foot and volleyed the Quaffle to Poliakoff as the three Puddlemere Chasers bore down on him. 'No luck ladies!' he shouted over the crowds roar as his fellow ex-Gryffindors all flipped after the Vulture Chasers who were speeding towards Oliver, who was still hanging upside down. Wiping his head of the sweat that had beaded there Dean snatched a look at the scoreboard to see it change; Vratsa 40, Puddlemere 0, so far luck was definitely with him.

'So Lee, how haff you been?' Viktor asked as he twisted and turned through the air, looking for the Snitch while staying close to the other Seeker.

'Fine,' was the glib reply, 'apart from Oliver trying to drown himself in the showers.'

'Oh, is _that_ vy he is upside down then?'

'Yeah, so not too much is wrong.'

***

With a blur of speed Harry wove between Dunwoody and Hall as they moved up the field with the Quaffle, just below him he saw the glint of gold that was driving him with such speed, sneaking a glance backwards he saw Cho only feet behind him. Looking back again he saw the Snitch was now moving towards him phenomenally fast, as was the ground, with a cry of 'gaaaaaaaaaaaah!' he pulled up to grab and miss the Snitch but also avoid the ground by feet. A similar shout of 'errrrrrrrrk!' behind him signalled that Cho had done the same thing. Looking around quickly he couldn't see the Snitch anymore, moving back up high he had a quick look at the scoreboard; Montrose 40, Chudley 70, so far, not so good.

***

With a groan that echoed round the stadium Poliakoff clutched his stomach where Colin had sent a Bludger flying into him as he had readied to throw the Quaffle through one of the goals, clutching with his knees he keeled over, dropping the Quaffle until he hung upside down, directly opposite Oliver. 'Hi,' the Keeper said, not noticing the winded look on his face, 'so what's the score then?', all he got in return was a small moan, so at last Oliver flipped over again, just in time to have the Quaffle bounce off his head. Amid the stars Oliver read the score; Puddlemere 20, Vratsa 150, oh dear, but wasn't that star pretty?

***

'Way to go Serene!' Charlie shouted as she shot home another goal after a spectacular loop over Ginny and Parvati who almost took each other's heads off in the process, that made the score; Montrose 70, Chudley 80, things were looking better. That was until the Bludger came flying out of nowhere and smacked him right in the face with a crunch that the entire stadium heard, 'wow!' he said, amazed, and then just before falling off his broom he punched the incoming Quaffle clear of the goal.

***

'And that makes it Puddlemere 100, Vratsa 190!' Neville announced to the roars of the crowd, 'so United performing an amazing feat there, doubling the number of points scored by Vratsa in that last part, and here comes Spinnet on another attack…Oh no where'd that Bludger come from? Painful but the Quaffle went straight to Bell's hands, a nice loop around Rikov there and she's through with only Thomas to beat AND AN AMAZING SAVE! Did you see him, hanging by one hand and once again kicking the Quaffle clear – he really does enjoy that Muggle game of football! The score remains at 100 to 190!'

***

'Well folks it looks like the medics are done with McCabe now, yes, yes there he is, standing up and taking his broom from Flunswick, so as soon as he's up…GAME ON! Score now Montrose 70, Chudley 80 but that can change in a second AND IT HAS! Marvellous goal from James White, I haven't seen one like that since…ever! Let's have a look at the replay, and there it is, thrown clearly from the other end of the pitch but looping over McCabe and into the hoop, an amazing shot there! Of course McCabe still looks half concussed so that could explain it, but what the hell, Montrose 70, Chudley on a well deserved 90.'

***

With two sudden dives Viktor and Lee were both chasing the Golden Snitch as it flitted beside one of the goal-posts that Oliver was now guarding reasonably well, the score was Puddlemere 120, Vratsa 200. Arriving at almost the same time both were too slow to grab the Snitch as it shot downward beyond their outstretched arms then with mutual cries of dismay they both began to head straight into the stands of spectators. Gripping their brooms tightly both were rebounded into the main pitch by the Repelling Charm that had been placed over the seats, spinning round and eventually regaining control of his broom Viktor looked up in time to see the score before a Bludger sent him reeling with a smash on his elbow; Vratsa 240, Puddlemere 150.

***

'Nice try!' Ron said, holding the Quaffle between his hands as Sara Walcott shot by underneath him, keeping his legs clasped around the broom Ron flipped upside down and passed the red ball onto Timothy Hall who sped by in the opposite direction. Catching a glimpse of the score Ron smiled, they were pulling ahead; Chudley 140, Montrose 90, whooping he turned upright just in time to see Hall pass the ball onto White who looped over Harry's concussed Keeper and scored, they were up to 150. Then a Bludger struck him a heavy blow to the side of his head, 250 feet up Ron toppled off his broomstick.

***

'WHAT A SAVE! Oliver Wood with the Starfish and Stick performed admirably but to capture the Quaffle as well is sheer genius, he passes it off to Katie Bell and look at her go now, in and out of those Bludgers she weaves but here come the opposing Chasers – and that's Folkov with the steal, a marvellous move! He's speeding along but the Creevey brothers send both Bludgers his way and he's spiralling off, the Quaffle now with Alicia Spinnet, soon to be Alicia Wood. She's going supersonic around those defenders and Bludgers! GOAL! A fine shot to make the score Puddlemere 170, Vratsa 250.'

***

Harry was over the other side of the stadium when he heard the collective gasp from the crowd and turned to see Ron's body fall from his broomstick and head towards the ground, swearing Harry turned his broomstick and shot like an arrow from a string. Corkscrewing through the Bludgers that were shooting over the pitch Harry lent down over the stick to gain greater speed as Ron plummeted downward, out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Fred and George also chasing down Ron but their slower broomsticks weren't going to make it. Even Ginny who had been only feet above Ron when he fell wasn't going to catch him, gritting his teeth Harry focused all his mind on urging the broomstick forwards with more speed, Ron was only fifty feet above the ground now and Harry was still a quarter of the pitch length away.

***

Bumping against Lee, Viktor grunted and turned his broomstick slowly so that he could stay manoeuvrable as they chased down the Snitch, it was only feet away from them again when it shot upwards out of their collective reaches. Cursing Viktor shot upwards after the Snitch surprised that Lee instead went down, looking back up he saw Oliver Wood straight in front of him with a look on his face, similar to that of a person at the wrong end of a loaded gun. With an 'Erk!' worthy of the greatest Viktor engaged the new Braking Charm that was on his Firebolt and held on as it stopped dead in space only a few feet away from Wood, with a bone-jarring flip Viktor went head over heels and ended up hanging on the underside of his broomstick while Oliver remained on his broom, white as a sheet.

***

'This is a bad idea!' Harry shouted as he shot towards Ron, then, maintaining the breakneck speed, he let go with his hands and hung by his knees upside down on the broomstick, pushing his glasses solidly into the bridge of his nose Harry reached out with both hands. Ten feet above the ground he caught Ron's flailing arms and with an awful 'pop' he held on as his left arm was wrenched from its socket, grinning through gritted teeth Harry looked into Ron's lolling face, he was still unconscious, 'boy do you owe me for that one.' A few seconds later the first medical wizard appeared beside Harry and put Ron onto a floating stretcher, then another came along with a sling to hold Harry's arm until he could be treated, looking up Harry took stock of the score before descending to the floor; Chudley 180, Montrose 100.

***

Looping with delight Angelina swirled to avoid Dean's grab at the Quaffle and sent it flying through the hoop adding another 10 points to their score, it was now Puddlemere 250, Vratsa 290, they were slowly pulling back into the competition. Turning her broomstick around she was just in time to see a Bludger hit by Dennis cannon into one of the Vratsa Chasers, as he spun rapidly in the air she saw the Quaffle fall safely into the hands of Katie who began another attack run on the Vratsa goal. Flying down below her Angelina matched Katie's flight perfectly, and when the opposing Chasers charged her down Katie shot upwards and below Angelina followed suit. Seconds later as Katie reached the apex of her climb she dropped the Quaffle, down past the pursuing Chasers it went straight into Angelina's waiting arms. Climbing back up to the goal Angelina was smiling again as the crowd cheered their Porskoff Ploy, and with ease she put the Quaffle past Dean again; Puddlemere 260, Vratsa 290.

***

With resounding cheers throughout the stadium, both Ron and Harry mounted their brooms and began to climb back into the air, a few minutes later Jane Hooch blew the whistle and the Quaffle was thrown in the air to restart the match. Neatly twisting through Ginny's Bludger that whistled past her shoulder, Susan grabbed the Quaffle seconds before White could, lying flat along the broomstick she shot towards Ron in his goal, not distracted by the ludicrously big purple bandage that was wrapped around his head. Continually twisting she felt the breath of air rush past her as another Bludger, courtesy of Parvati came whistling past, not flinching she continued to fly straight, pulling in her shoulders until she resembled an arrow heading for a target. At the last second before entering the scoring area she turned and released the Quaffle, it went straight into the far left hole while Ron, who had been following her original flight line could only watch as he guarded the loop on the far right. Montrose 110, Chudley 180.

***

With a resounding cheer Lee and Viktor both began to dive for the Snitch again as it flittered in the middle of the pitch, while far above the three Vratsa Chasers moved into the Hawkshead Formation and bore down on Oliver who was still shaking from Viktor's emergency stop manoeuvre earlier on. Gritting his teeth he moved to the front of the scoring area, spreading his hands out widely to prevent them releasing a close shot, then the Creevey brothers struck. With a universal groan one of the Bludgers hit Poliakoff in his stomach again, the other almost knocked Folkov's stick out from under him, instead the Chaser went into a dive out of the formation. Gulping Oliver was left facing the sole survivor of the Hawkshead, slowly moving backwards he readied himself to shoot either left or right on his broom to deflect any shot, but was suddenly saved the trouble when Alicia shot down from the sky and stole the Quaffle from the player, leaving him spinning in the air. Shooting through no opposition she approached Dean and with a crafty shot she threw the Quaffle around her back and it looped slowly through another hoop, the score was Puddlemere 260, Vratsa 300. On the floor of the stadium both Viktor and Lee were receiving headache cures after ploughing into the ground.

***

With another groan Charlie watched as the Quaffle shot through the wrong hoop, his head was still throbbing from the mild concussion he had received earlier, but this was no excuse to play so weakly, the score was heavily in Chudley's favour being Montrose 120 and Chudley 210. Throwing the Quaffle out to Serene he watched with hope as she shot towards the Chudley goal area, then he let out another resounding groan as Fred and George collided with her as they chased the Bludgers that Ginny and Parvati had sent her way. Focusing he was just in time to see Ben Dunwoody shooting at him with the Quaffle aimed squarely at the loop on the other side of the goal area, turning round Charlie had just enough time to see the red ball shoot through the hoop with a cheer from the orange segments of the crowd, it was now Montrose 120, Chudley 220, they were down by 100 points and he still had a headache.

***

With something approaching a warcry Folkov shot towards Wood the Quaffle held securely in his grasp, looking around he spun to the left in time to avoid Alicia as she tried to steal away the ball again and found his path now clear to the goals apart from Wood who was now weaving back and forth on his broomstick. Trying to cover all the angles Oliver realised with a hint of despair that Folkov was not trying to do any fancy tricks and was instead intent on putting the Quaffle through the loop directly behind him. Not exactly knowing what he was doing Oliver stood his ground as the Chaser approached the edge of the area then released the Quaffle directly at him, instincts taking over he flipped the broom a fraction of a second before the Quaffle would have hit him. Feeling his broomstick shudder Oliver righted himself in time to the Quaffle finish it's parabolic path across the stadium by plunging through the Vratsa goal causing the entire stadium to erupt in cheers. Looking at the scoreboard Oliver read Puddlemere 290, Vratsa 310, and below that saw an instant replay of his shot followed by the words; _Quidditch history made as Wood scores first ever Keeper goal!_

***

With an elaborate double helix Cho and Harry shot through the Chasers who were crowding the centre of the pitch chasing the Quaffle and both were then shooting upwards at the Snitch that was flitting about by the stadium roof. Flattening themselves against their brooms both sought to gain more speed by streamlining themselves, but this time they both remembered to keep their eyes on the Snitch to avoid another repeat of the earlier chase. As they approached the top the crowd was deafeningly quiet, even the other players had stopped to watch what was happening, the result being that Fred was knocked upside down by a Bludger, but still everyone focused on the two Seekers charging towards the roof at breakneck speed. All Harry could think about as he moved towards the Snitch which was flitting back and forth as if trapped between the two was how to pull off the capture without killing himself, all Cho could think about was not pulling out of her climb until absolutely necessary. Metres flew by bringing them both closer and closer to the roof and the Snitch and when they were just a few feet away from the cover they both acted; Cho started to go into horizontal dive to stop from slamming into the roof and Harry held out a shuddering hand and flew through the roof, the canvas coverings shredding around him, leaving a silhouette of his outline, with the tiny outline of the Snitch in his right hand. A few seconds passed and then, pieces of canvas streaming from his robes Harry flew down through the hole triumphantly holding the Golden Snitch in his hand and the crowd erupted in cheers, both the Chudley and Montrose supporters applauding the effort made. A broad smile on his face Harry turned the broomstick so that the entire crowd could see the Snitch and then seconds later he disappeared under the mob of black and white shirts that were his team until only the flaming ginger hair of the Weasleys could be identified. The final score was Montrose 270, Chudley 220.

***

Looking up as the crowd suddenly erupted into cheers and whistles for no reason both the Puddlemere and Vratsa players stopped in their flights to see the news flashing up on the screen; _POTTER TAKES SNITCH, MONTROSE WIN AGAINST CHUDLEY, 270 POINTS TO 220!!!_ Whistling loudly all of the Puddlemere team let out cheers of their own while Viktor and Dean applauded the score while the other Bulgarians, none of whom had met Harry or Ron before simply looked bemused and slowly the Chasers began to move towards the other goal with the Quaffle held ready. Moving right to the edge of the area Poliakoff lobbed the Quaffle through the goal, right past Wood's eyes to make the score Vratsa 330, Puddlemere 310.

***

Amid wild cheering both the teams slowly flew to the ground, and on landing Harry marched straight over to Ron, and ignoring the hand that was held out instead embraced him heartily, then grabbed his hand and held it up high with his own as the crowd cheered even more loudly at the two captains. Then with whoops from the other players both found themselves lifted onto the shoulders of their teams and before long they were being paraded around the stadium while Filibusters detonated in the air above. After a while they eventually made their way up to the commentary box where the World Championship Cup awaited the Magpies and the Championship Plate the Cannons. 'Annnnnnnnnnnd here they come folks! Let's have a big Quidditch championship cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer for the Chudley Cannons and the Montrose Magpies!' Ernie shouted above the din as the teams emerged, all of them smiling and waving to the thousands of fans who were shouting themselves hoarse. 'Annnnnnnnnnnd to make the presentation to the teams, I give you our Minster of Magic; Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, Grand Sorcerer, member of the International Confederation of Wizards and holder of the Order of Merlin, First Class, and my ex-headmaster of 7 years, Allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllbus Dummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmbledooooooooore!' The crowd once again erupted into cheers as he stepped up from his seat and approached the two team captains, the same twinkle was in his eyes that Harry remembered and the same rare smile on his face that had congratulated Harry many times before.

***

__

Here we go again Lee thought as he and Viktor began to dive down towards the faint glimmer of gold that was twinkling low down on the floor of the stadium, lying flat to slipstream himself, Lee moved into the air currents that Viktor's faster broomstick generated. Using the artificial airstream Lee moved alongside Viktor as they continued their dive, focusing he began to spin slowly to avoid bumping into Viktor, who also used the same tactic and began to spin in the opposite direction so they moved like a well oiled cog, closer and close to the ground. Again the Snitch seemed to sense them coming closer and within seconds of grabbing for it the Snitch took off like a rocket towards them passing through them, pulling up Lee turned to see it had disappeared, _This is going to be a long day._

***

Raising their trophies high above their heads Ron and Harry basked in the limelight of the cheers before passing them onto the other members of the team, stepping away from the floating cameras that flashed in their eyes, Harry and Ron stepped to the back where they met Dumbledore again. 'Quite a match you two, I imagine they'll talk about that one for years to come. I gather the celebrations are to be held at Hogwarts, however did you work you way around Minerva?' he asked Ron with a twinkle in his eye. 'Or perhaps I should ask Miss Granger, as a fellow teacher she may have some sort of clue. But for now, I must go and be pomp and ceremonious, wish me luck, and I'll see you two later…if I can get away from the other match.'

***

'WAKE UP DENNIS!' Colin shouted for the fifth time as he passed his brother in flight, knocking the Bludger away that was threatening to knock him flying from his broom as he slept, 'I know we've been up here for a while but that's no excuse!' then he flew off before his brother could object. Flying quickly along the pitch to pace Alicia, Colin quickly turned around to follow Folkov who caught the Quaffle from her as she began to drift off. However his shot at goal also revealed the fatigue when it only went halfway across the goal area, leaving Wood to drift, yawning, in front of the posts. Moving to him Colin tapped his broom to jar him awake. 'It's time for substitutes Oliver,' he said, making sure the Captain was looking at him, 'Dennis is half asleep, Alicia is now asleep, only Viktor and Lee are still managing to keep both eyes open. Or we could concede,' he continued but a bloodshot eye in his direction changed his mind, 'I'll tell the rest of the team then.' A few minutes later twelve sleeping players were replaced by twelve caffeine-charged players leaving Lee and Viktor to circle endlessly, the sleeping Seekers eyes open so that they could snap out of their Resting Charms when the Snitch appeared again…

A/N: Poor Viktor and Lee, I think they may be circling forever up there, or at least until something gold moves in front of them. Well I hope you all enjoyed that, and just to let you know what did happen [even though it _really_ didn't] here's the table of the final round:

Team

Points For

Points Against

Final Position

Montrose Magpies

270

220

1

Chudley Cannons

220

270

2

Vratsa Vultures

1,600

1,450

3*

Puddlemere United

1,450

1,600

3*

*Vratsa and Puddlemere drew after 10 days on the finding of the Golden Snitch lying broken on the floor by Puddlemere Seeker, Lee Jordan.

Supplementary A/N: This was supposed to only be 1,500 words, but if you enjoyed it anyway, or if you want to criticise me for the length or something else, you know what to do next…

PS: Just don't criticise me about spelling, it's not my fault if the flaming thing don't work on my machine :p.


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